Takeover Finally Goes Through

The long and protracted buyout of Bolton Wanderers has finally been concluded.

Sports Shield and Inner Circle have bought out the majority stake in the club held by Eddie Davies, who has been given the title of honorary president.

In a statement on the club website, it was confirmed both Dean Holdsworth and Ken Anderson will join the board. Marc Iles of the Bolton News has tweeted Anderson will be chairman, with Holdsworth as CEO.

This goes against previous rumours which suggested Holdsworth would assume the chairmanship left vacant in the wake of Phil Gartside’s passing.

There will be some concern around the involvement of Anderson however, who had been banned from acting as a company director for eight years until 2013.

In a statement published on the club website, Holdsworth said, ‘We will not give up the fight of maintaining our Sky Bet Championship status. We believe we have a group of excellent players to work with and we hope that today`s news will give everyone a lift, both on and off the pitch.’

He however, had no words about Neil Lennon, which could be telling given the rumours Sports Shield would seek a managerial change, with Phil Brown an apparent target.

Two of the new regime’s most pressing points however, will be to finally pay HMRC ahead of nexy Monday’d latest court battle, plus lift the transfer embargo ahead of the imminent closing of the loan window.